Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

For a Saturday at the end of December, the emergency room waiting room held a scattering of impatient patients. Several grade school-aged children fought to hold back tears from their bumps, bruises, or sickness. One middle-aged man kept up a stream of muttering over what he perceived to be a wholly unacceptable wait time. Another distraught wife chattered away on her phone to relatives as doctors checked out her husband's chest pains.

All the while, a marathon of House Hunters played at low volume on the television in the corner. Although most of the waiting room occupants struggled to hear Ted and Marcy from Omaha's fake rationale for deciding on a home to buy, the mere presence of their three choices allowed everyone to ignore the others in the room with them. Harvey had arched an eyebrow at Bridget over the selection of programming, leading her to whisper that the hospital had to change to something neutral after too many arguments over what cable news channel should play.

Now, after a seemingly forever wait, Harvey stared as Marcy complained on the TV about the ranch-style home's far too limited closet space. Although Harvey came across as calm and collected, Bridget worked to soothe his concerns by walking him through the steps that the ER staff would likely be performing.

"Depending on how low her body temperature is at the moment, they might be using more than just heated blankets. The most likely method would be a warm IV to help warm her blood. A lot depends on her vitals, Harvey. Harvey? Harvey?!"

"Oh, sorry, were you saying something?" he asked, snapping back to focus. Harvey looked around the waiting room, almost in surprise to find himself there.

"Just telling you what the staff is likely doing to help Whitney," Bridget informed him, unsure but concerned over how he was dealing with his daughter's near-death experience.

"Yes, thank you," he replied, patting her arm.

The whooshing of the sliding glass doors to the outside drew their attention. Chief Ranger Zebulon Colburn re-entered the waiting room, heading straight over to the two concerned parents. Sitting down next to Harvey, he asked if there were any new updates.

"No, we haven't heard anything more since the first update," Bridget answered for both of them. "How's everything back at the lake?"

"Nelly heard back from Vanoy. She finished her preliminary report. We'll have to wait to hear the kids' stories. Duffy's headed out there now to provide a more experienced ranger's follow-up report," he explained, motioning toward Harvey next. "Considering Young's fondness for Whitney, I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't join Duffy."

"How's the work on the storm damage coming?" Harvey inquired, clearly trying to take his mind off his troubles for even a moment.

"Young and Netland have returned, so I sent Kyle to help Shane finish clearing that tree down the road from Wirchie's. We already had enough work for double our contingent even before the storm damage. And the weather report shows another possible storm on New Year's Eve," Chief Colburn explained while scanning the room. "Say, do you know where Ranger Slover went?"

"I think he said something about the cafeteria," Bridget answered.

"I'll stop and check if he's there. Then, I'm going to go upstairs and visit Ranger Kaswakoski, in case I don't see Boone and he comes back."

"Ranger Roger? Did something happen?" Bridget asked, beating Harvey to the question. The eldest and most senior ranger at the Wasp Lake District, Roger Kaswakoski, also happened to be its most popular one. Dubbed Ranger Roger by schoolchildren, he served as the park's liaison to the local school districts, working as the guide for school field trips to the park.

"Uh, he was, um, injured yesterday. They are likely keeping him here for a few days," Zebulon replied uncomfortably.

"I hope everything is okay. I don't remember Wasp Lake without Roger around," Harvey remarked. "I'll, uh, try and stop and see him...depending on what happens."

"Don't you worry, Harvey. Your little girl will be fine; she's a fighter just like her great-grandpa," Chief Colburn said, standing up and patting the concerned father's shoulder. "Oh, Vanoy did say that she and..."

"Finn," Bridget supplied.

"Yes, Finn. He brought one of your sleds with him, and they grabbed all the stuff you left on the side of the trail. She said some ice skates, wet clothes, and a couple of coolers."

"Leave it to Finny to think of grabbing them," Bridget remarked as Harvey nodded.

As the head ranger left the room, the mention of Harvey's family led Bridget to have a thought. "Harv, did you call Willow or Graham?"

"What? No, I didn't," he answered, appearing surprised at the question. "Do you think I should? Maybe it's better if I wait to hear anything first."

"I think you should at least call Willow. She might want to be here," Bridget told him. "It's okay; if the doctor comes with an update, I'll come get you."

Nodding, Harvey reluctantly and slowly walked outside to make the phone call or two. Bridget reminded herself that when he returned, she should try calling her parents again too. They weren't tech-savvy enough to like text messages.

Shooting off another message to her husband, although he still hadn't responded to any of them, Bridget thought to send her younger sister, Brandy, a note about Sean's condition. Usually, a fast responder, Brandy, didn't reply either. I guess that shouldn't surprise me since it's a Saturday. Who knows what she's up to and where.

Needing someone to talk to, even in text messages, Bridget sent one off to her last living best friend. Even from all the way in Hawaii, Tinsley responded immediately with worry about Sean. The shock from her best friend was evident even without hearing her voice as the two went back and forth as Bridget detailed what little she knew about Whitney's falling through the ice and Sean's rescue. Hearing the door to the ER examination rooms opening, Bridget glanced up and quickly sent off a message to Tinny that Sean's doctor just arrived.

"Bridget," greeted the brown-skinned ER doctor, his thick accent evident in only a single word.

"Hari, how is he?" Bridget asked but stopped as she felt Harvey slide in next to her. "Oh, Harvey, this is Dr. Hari Bhandari. Hari, this is Harvey Diamond; his daughter is the other patient."

"Of course, I recognized you from the newspaper and fundraising events," Dr. Bhandari said, shaking the other man's hand. Turning back to Bridget, he inquired, "Shall we wait for Leonard?"

"No, I have no idea where he's at. He's not answering any of my messages either," she replied with a dismissive shake of her head. "How's my little boy?"

"No matter what age, a son is always a little boy to his mother," the doctor said with a small grin. "Let's start with the good news, shall we."

Both concerned parents nodded eagerly, neither missing that his statement implied there would be bad news.

"First, his body temperature was at 95.7 degrees when he arrived. That's over the range to be considered for hypothermia. Even now, it's steadily rising, so I have very little concern over that or his vitals. A strong amount of rest and relaxation will have him back to full strength by the new year."

Bridget gave a small sigh of relief for her son but knew that meant Whitney's body temperature would be much lower.

"Second, Sean's blood loss was only moderate thanks to your quick thinking. The wound down the side of his leg has been sutured. It measured roughly three and a half inches. Unfortunately, he'll have a reminder of this incident for years to come with the likely scar."

Next to her, Bridget could feel Harvey's tension level increase over the news.

"The blow to his head gave me some concern initially as he had been unconscious. However, he's responded brilliantly to all our tests and questions. Based on those, I would rate it as a moderate concussion," Dr. Bhandari reported.

"Not a Grade-3? He did lose consciousness, Hari," Bridget pointed out.

"Yes, that was factored into my evaluation. However, I attribute his losing consciousness far more to the shock his body had experienced. The cold water alone is enough of a shock to the system, add in the exhaustion from swimming and the intense pain he was experiencing."

"Intense pain?!" Bridget gasped.

"Yes, that brings us to the bad news. Sean suffered a Lisfranc fracture," Dr. Bhandari informed her.

"What's that?" Harvey asked, concerned that it sounded dreadful.

"It's when the metatarsal bone is displaced from the tarsus," Bridget rattled off but stopped at seeing Harvey's continued confusion. "It's a serious break in a foot bone."

"I see you remember your medical school days, Bridget," Dr. Bhandri noted. "I can't imagine you see too many of those in your practice."

"Not at all. That requires a significant amount of force or a heavy blow. How in the world did Sean do that?"

"I believe Sean said he was attempting to scale down a cliff if that makes any sense. And he slipped and fell a good distance," Dr. Bhandari relayed.

"Sean tried to climb down Deadman Drop?!" Harvey spat out in shock. "And he fell?"

"How bad is it?" Bridget asked her friend and colleague.

"Sean's second metatarsal is a clean displacement. The third is a partial. That much is clear from the X-ray. I do have some concern about the ligament in-between them, but we'll need to wait until the swelling subsides to do an MRI."

"I had a feeling he suffered a serious foot or ankle injury," Bridget said more to herself.

"The ankle is another concern. I want to run an MRI on it as well for ligament damage. As for now, Sean's going to be fitted with a soft cast and walking boot. Once the swelling subsides in a few days, a hard cast will replace that, and his primary physician can check on his ankle."

"How long does it take to recover from this type of an injury?" Harvey questioned.

"At a minimum, six weeks. It could take up to twelve if he needs surgery. Once the swelling goes down, a clearer picture should present itself. It's possible that a K-wire could be inserted if necessary to help speed up the recovery time."

"Six to twelve weeks! I'm so sorry, Bridget," Harvey apologized.

"Now, hush, Harv. Sean will be fine. He'll just have to stay off his feet and use a crutch for a little time. I think he'll gladly trade that for helping Whitney." Turning back, she embraced Dr. Bhandari's hand with both of hers. "Thank you, Hari, for taking good care of my son."

"Of course. You did that same for Louise and our little one," he said warmly. Walking back toward the examination rooms, Dr. Bhandari promised to update her if anything new arose.

As the door swung shut behind the doctor, it immediately swung back open. Instead of an ER doctor out walked a dark-skinned ER nurse. Her eyes locking in on Bridget, she moved toward her. The two women met in a quick hug.

"How are you holding up?" the nurse asked.

"Fine, Lulu, I'm fine. Have you seen Sean?"

"We're all taking good care of him for you, Bridget. He's in a lot of pain but been quite the trooper," Lulu informed her. "Although he's getting a little loopy now that the painkillers are kicking in. He was telling Bonnie how he thinks her eyes are the prettiest in the universe."

"Sean does sound loopy," his mother chuckled. "I'll have to think of some good questions to ask him."

"Oh, I'm sure in his state he'll answer whatever you ask about," the nurse laughed, glancing curiously at Harvey.

"Sorry, Lulu, this is Harvey Diamond. His daughter, Whitney, is the one that Sean helped."

After exchanging greetings, Lulu added, "I don't think it will be too much longer before Dr. Fort gives you an update on your daughter." She then promised to stop back in and see Bridget again before her shift was over as she went back to work.

With the staff now all gone, Harvey dropped back down into his chair, shoulders sagging. "I don't know how you can do this day in and day out, Bridget."

"Well, I don't work in the ER, so my days are filled more with hope about my patients' future children," she answered, sitting back down next to him. Reaching over, she grabbed his hand. "It won't be much longer, Harv. Whitney's going to be fine."

"I will never forget what Sean did for Whitney, Bridget. Never. I owe him my life."